3/09/2009 @ 4:00PM

Home Improvement Tips For Those Who Can't Move

When empty-nesting clients of New York designer Amanda Nisbet recently halted plans to move out of their open-format, family-friendly space in Manhattan to something cozier and more functional, Nisbet quickly moved to Plan B. That involved creating some semblance of their dream home in the one they already had.

She walled off the end of the L-shaped living room into a much-desired home office for the husband. And although Nisbet couldn’t squeeze the requested adjoining dressing room out of the master bedroom, she replaced the linens, carpet, headboard and window treatments, creating a fresher, more restful bedroom to “appease the wife while they wait [to move].”

Dropping sales and plummeting prices have forced aspiring homeowners to postpone or cancel their moving plans. Whether they had been hoping to upgrade, change neighborhoods or graduate from leasing to owning, many would-be movers are staying put, settling on a more modest American dream of home ownership: whatever home they already have, with some improvements.

In January, existing home sales were down 5.3% and new home sales were down 10.2% from the previous month. As lawmakers wrestle over ways to stimulate sales, many sellers who had specific goals in mind for new homes are turning to small renovations and cosmetic improvements to achieve a shadow of their original plans.

San Francisco designer Martha Angus has witnessed young, would-be first-time home buyers put newborn babies to bed in closets. They hang a drape in place of a door, paint the back wall and “figure the baby won’t remember,” assuming it is a temporary solution, she says.

Another client of Nisbet’s had signed a contract for a new home and already purchased custom-made de Gournay wallpaper for the front hall when financial pressures forced them to stay in their existing house. Fortunately, the designer was able to recycle the wallpaper into free-standing decorative panels for the current home’s foyer, providing the desired effect in a portable format.

These types of quick fixes are increasingly popular. Solutions range from buying new sheets for a few hundred dollars, to creating a room where there wasn’t one by erecting a wall, which can run upward of $10,000. But with the Dow careening toward an uncertain future, many homeowners don’t know how long they may stay in the homes they do not want, nor what they should spend to fix them up.

“People have been conditioned over the last 15 years to think of their property foremost as an investment,” explains Los Angeles designer Jon Andersen-Miller. “Now without a guaranteed appreciation per annum and equal return on renovations, they have to return to thinking of creating a home as their primary motivation.”

San Francisco designer Jay Jeffers advises his clients that if there is a chance they may be in the home for five years, they should decorate, while “concentrating on things that add resale value, like kitchens and bathrooms.”

Nisbet takes the opposite approach with her clients, strongly deterring them from kitchen and bath projects when they are fundamentally not committed to their homes. She believes the expense and disruption are not worth it from a resale perspective when so many prospective buyers will factor in the costs of kitchen and bath remodels to suit their personal tastes.

For those who wish to hedge their bets and renovate without breaking the bank, Angus suggests smart-looking Ikea cabinets for kitchens. For a recent bathroom project, she cut costs but achieved a contemporary look by mixing Restoration Hardware light fixtures and
Home Depot
marble mosaic floor tiles with a $1,000 mahogany toilet seat from Waterworks.

For the homeowners who are determined to move at the first opportunity, San Francisco designer Angus provides sound advice: “Don’t spend on the envelope.” Rather, she says, invest in mobile pieces like a good sofa or art. Jeffers agrees, suggesting his clients change only movable fixtures, like chandeliers and sconces, if they must stay longer than planned. Nisbet suggests new window treatments as a way to transform and soften a room with minimal investment.

With all the uncertainty in the economy, even some people who could move are staying put. “People feel safer in the environment they are already in,” says Nisbet.